It is a difficult, if not impossible task to apply learning styles to training programs, according to one leading academic.

E-learning is becoming an increasingly popular method of training employees. However, for all its strengths, it can often be a challenge to engage learners so that they’re not distracted or have an urge to rush through it.

Tammy Ryder, General Manager of People at Minor DKL Food Group and The Coffee Club Group, outlines the key features of their e-learning approach which ensures the learners are actually learning.

Regular questions

Firstly, at various stages of the module they are actually stopped and asked a number of questions, said Ryder.

Moreover, there is a 100% pass mark required with their modules so the employees have to get all of the questions correct by the end of the module to be able to complete it.

“They get a number of attempts to get the question correct and if they can’t it actually takes them back to the start of the section and they need to do the whole section again,” said Ryder.

“We have a few keen eager beavers at the start who sometimes try and race ahead but they learn pretty quickly that if they don’t actually read and understand what’s going on then they are not going to be able to pass those questions,” she said.

Another way The Coffee Club engages employees through e-learning is by making the tasks as stimulating as they can possibly be.

“Watching pictures and processes can get quite tedious because there are a lot of steps in making coffee, whereas we actually have interactive videos featuring a person demonstrating how to use a coffee machine and talking you through the steps,” she said.

Chunk the learning

E-learning at the Coffee Club involves breaking information down into smaller modules and ‘chunking the learning’ so that the modules do not take too long to complete. The modules are only five, ten, or 15 minutes minutes each so they get that sense of accomplishment, added Ryder.

“This is different to some e-learning that you look at that might have an hour and a half or a three hour session just to get one section completed. That tends to frustrate people who don’t feel like they’re getting anywhere,” she said.

Timed modules

Finally, The Coffee Club also implements timed modules so they can see how long people are taking to do them.

“If people are taking short lengths of time we actually have some standardised reports that go back to our franchisees cautioning them that people seem to be progressing through them too quickly,” she said.